A few weekends ago, I booked flights to Perth, I have only been once but I was too young to remember. It took me a mere two hours to get to the airport, when it should have only taken one. I arrived at my gate with minutes to spare. Another stress that I don’t need.

If I remember back to childhood, flying was such an exciting experience. Now I just feel trapped in the plane, and stuck to a seat for an extended period of time. I hate it. And I don’t know what it is I hate about it. Is it that I am stuck and I have no choice? I think for me it is about the choice.

When I travel, I always drive. I don’t like to let other people control ‘wheres’ and ‘whens’. I need those decisions to be in my hands. I like to be able to control the music and the temperature in the cabin. In a plane, I am choice-less. I am confined to a seat, and I freeze from the surrounding climate.

But the worst part would be getting the seat next to the smelly person. The person that overfills their seat. The person who is intoxicated. The crying baby. Which leads me to my next point. What age should you not travel with a child?

I know parents might not have the choice in some circumstances, but the amount of parents traveling with young children seems to be increasing. Is this the cost of fares or the change from the traditional parenting techniques?

A dynamic shift in parenting has erupted. I’m sure there are some parents out there who expect teachers to teach their children life skills. I have encountered many. Those who refuse to side with you on homework and behavior. Maybe it’s the location of my teaching practice?

This still doesn’t explain why I stood at the open night of a inner beachside secondary school, and witness a father of five explode through the doors with his ratbag 9 year old children. Their only savior was the fact that their parents were standing right there. However this hasn’t stopped me telling kids off before. The last time was on a flight home from Hawaii. I was already ready for the confrontation of the parents. I don’t understand how some parents let their children run wild in public places, and then there is the kid who wont touch the bag of lollies I put on the table as its mid-week.

Where are we going as a society, if our kids are uncontrollable? I am not a parent, I do not have my own kids. But I do have 26 of yours every hour, five days a week. I think I have qualified enough for a stake in this discussion.

The fundamental shift here seems to come from what some might think as lazy parenting.. Or perhaps alike animals, children have the ability to grow themselves up. I disagree. As a wise man once said to me, “It’s easy to have bad kids, but it is hard to have good ones. As good ones are hard work and you have to be consistent.” To be honest, I hadn’t heard it so simply put. Good kids are hard work.

Many times in my classroom, I have given an ultimatum to a student. Then realised that if I don’t follow through with my punishment, then they will never respect me. I remember that I don’t need students to like me, I need them to respect what I stand for as a teacher.

Is it that I am the Grandchild of religion? And that the children of today are atheism to the highest degree? I have talked in previous posts about the cost of living for my generation over that of our parents. (Home isn’t where the heart is..) But are we not all human?

If leaves me to ponder about the future and where we are headed as society? We no longer need the 10 Commandments to control our lives, and children are capable of growing without guidance. Will we survive the adults of the future?

“Decisions are only decisions if you decide..”
~Mango